Living with diabetes blog

Self talk: What are you telling yourself?

Stuart Smalley, a character played by Al Franken on Saturday Night Live, may have been a little over the top, but Stuart was on the right track when it comes to self-talk and positive affirmations.

What is self-talk? It's the way you "talk" to yourself inside your head. Self-talk can be positive or negative. And with all of life's complications and stresses, we can easily start down a path of blaming ourselves, which can be self-defeating.

I've noticed that those with diabetes are proficient at self-chastisement. "My blood glucose is high; I screwed up again." What might be better to say? "Yes, my blood glucose is high, but it's only one reading, and it will come down."Admittedly, this is easier said than done sometimes.

Common thought patterns that lead to negative self-talk include:

All-or-nothing thinking. Looking at situations in extremes — "If I'm not good, I must be bad."

Negative thinking can be a symptom of a more serious condition, depression.

If you're experiencing depression, your healthcare provider can refer you to a therapist who's trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT therapists teach people how to change such negative thinking.

Reprint Permissions

A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.org," "Mayo Clinic Healthy Living," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.